Friday, June 02, 2006

The Class of 2015

Part of the class of 2015 will be my 22 third graders. Today we talked more about their blogs. We had talked about what will happen at the end of the year before. Today I gave them a chance to blog their thoughts - about their blogs.

I wish I had these to send to Will Richardson as he addressed 49 superintendants from NY state, to David Warlick when he spoke to a conference in Arizona, and many others. These voices speak volumes of the way kids are embracing web 2.0 technologies - if we only let them.

What they also convey is the tremendous power new technologies have to offer, in terms of motivating kids to write. I have never, in 25 years of teaching, seen anything come close to this. Below are excerpts of what they posted today. The links to their blogs are at the end of this post:

Why do we write on our blog. Do we have to? Why? I just want to know, isn’t it a simple question? The world may never know. I really like to write on my blog. It’s a strong way to express yourself with strong feelings. My blog is awesome in my opinion. I really like my blog, it’s one of the coolest things in my life! I love my blog and I don’t want to lose it. - Camden


I want a blog next year. I think I’m a better writer. I think kinder gardeners should blog. - Gus


Blogs are important because you write a lot of articles and how would you feel if it got taken away. How would you feel if someone Stole it away from you, would you care? Think about it, please think about it. - Isobel


You can write on your blog any time you want to. You can even blog from your house if you know what you are doing. If you are even on summer break you can write on your blog. - Jackson


One day in class I asked, “what will happen to the blog next year?” He said we could write all summer until next year our blog will be saved in a folder so that his new class can have a blog. No more writing will be on our blog. It will be all in the past. How horrible can this get! At least the new kids will have a blog. So SAD!! - Jacqueline


I feel proud that I have a blog. Having a blog is more fun than I thought it would be. It feels great to have a blog - Joe


Next year I don’t think I will get to write any new articles on my blog because my teacher will have a new blog. I wish I could blog until I’m out of school. I think next year I’m going to try to get my new teacher to start a blog so I can blog next year and more people can blog. - Joey


I feel so sad that we don’t get the blog next year and I really hope that our class next year can make her or he let us have a blog. I think I’m a better writer because of my blog. I’m going to miss all my writing and comments but we just NEED to leave the blog. I just hate that so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, much. But I think that the kids in Mr. Ahlness’s class next year will do a great job and I know that they will. - Hannah


Well I think for the summer I’m not really going to write articles because my computer doesn’t work. That’s why I can’t write any more articles on my blog. The other thing is that next year I’m not going to have a blog. Can you believe that? A kid without a blog, yikes! - Jose


I think other people should have a blog because it will give me a chance to comment more people and so I can get more comments too. I like blogs because you get to share a creative idea with the world. It is cool having a blog. - Logan


I feel safe when I write on my blog. I feel important when I write on my Blog. I’m going to miss writing in Mr. A’s Class. I feel like I want to write in the summer. - Tia


I think other teachers should let their kids have a blog. Even kindergartners. I think everybody should have a blog. Everybody should express his or her writing in a good way. - Abigail


We are very safe when we write. We can put our FIRST name on our blogs but last is a no-no! Because then some evil person might look you up in the phone book and go all voodoo on you!!! - August


Blogs are good; people, kids, or other people in the world can send you a comment. And when somebody sends me a comment I just get happy and send a comment back to him or her. And when I get out of school I feel happy and sad. I feel important to my blog because I wrote things that I wanted to share with EVERYBODY. - Dylan


And finally, one blog put it all together:

My blog is very important to me and I still want to keep it going. It’s hard to let go of something when you really care about it. I think that I will keep writing and writing because I want even more experience with writing so I can teach other kids to write.


My teachers appreciate my writing and I respect that. When a teacher looks at my article and says I did a good job, it makes me feel great because I know that they really do like it.


I think that other kids should blog because it’s fun and it really helps you learn more and more. Sometimes you can look at other people’s blogs and get Ideas, but you don’t want to take their whole Idea.


When I blog I have to be careful about these things: last names, addresses, phone numbers and other personal things, but I’m not stupid to put my phone number or anything like that but you never know if anyone could accidentally write anything very, very personal. You also don’t want to write inappropriate things because you are not setting a good example for the younger ones.


I’m not sure if my teacher next year will let us have a blog, but if she or he likes someone’s blog than my class can have a blog. I really don’t want to let go of my blog and I think I have to burst a tear. - Danielle


Those are just excerpts from some of the blogs. I encourage the reading of everything they have to say.

I am extremely proud of these young pioneers. I do believe they understand where their place is in the evolution of the web. They are proud to be pushing the envelope. I think they even feel a bit of responsibility for doing it well, so others may benefit from their efforts. They are a very special group.

Below are the blogs of all the 8 and 9 year olds from roomtwelve.com, the class of 2015:

Abigail
Alice
Alina P
Anthony
August
Billy
Brian
Camden
Danielle
Dylan
Gus
Hannah
Hayden
Isobel
Jackson
Jacqueline
Joe
Joey
Jose
Logan
Mariah
Michael
Ming
Tia
Tyler
technorati tags

6 comments:

Cheryloakes50 said...

If you are looking for summer reading, thought provoking reading check out all of these blogs. Finish this statement-
When I read these blogs I.............



For me when I read these blogs, I couldn't believe they were 3rd graders!
Cheryl Oakes

Anonymous said...

Great post Mark! Very powerful. Isn't it interesting just how powerful kids work is at touching us and making a point usually better than we can!

Brian

Anonymous said...

http://learningismessy.com/blog/?p=86

Mark Ahlness said...

Cheryl, when I read these blogs I have hope for the future. Thanks so much for all the comments you left for them!

Brian, yes, their writing is powerful. They write from their hearts first. We should all take a lesson. - Mark

Mr. McNamar said...

As an English teacher at the high school level, this gives me hope. Your students are so thoughtful in their writing.

Anonymous said...

Mark,

Thank you for sharing your students' comments. I stumbled into your blog while searching for ideas and inspiration to start my own. I plan to have my students discuss books they are reading. Your blog is an inspiration to me and is going straight into my favorites.

Thanks again,

Mrs. R